What's Your Nature?

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In the Schools

Northworthy and newsworthy information fron North Country schools

The Benefits of Place Based Learning in Environmental Education and Outdoor Education

Nestled in the corner of St. Lawrence county, St. Lawrence University students participating in the Adirondack Semester can be found waking up in their yurts to misty mornings in a forest of snow-dusted eastern hemlocks. Every Fall, a handful of college students live in Childwold, New York to better understand the ecology and land of the North Country. My sophomore year St. Lawrence, I was a student on this program and spent a whole semester canoeing to my lessons and learning first hand about the Adirondacks and North Country.

Teacher Workshop August 9th & 10th - Cancelled

Are you a St. Lawrence County teacher interested in incorporating more nature-based learning into your lessons? Do you want to increase opportunities for integrating outdoor learning with STEM content?

We're excited to bring back our annual summer teacher workshop in two parts! 

Climate Action in the North Country Ramping Up

On Friday, December 6th, a group of people sang together in harmony in the Canton Park.  We were bundled up in coats, hats, and gloves as icy wind and snow swept through town. The lyrics, I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas, joined us for a singular purpose - climate activism. As cars sped by and people passed with children, we raised our voices in song. The goal of all 50 people present, old and young, was to send a desperate plea for concrete climate action to our government.

 

Potsdam Climate Vigil

Local Climate Vigils Expand to Potsdam

Our next Monthly Climate Action Vigil is this Friday, December 6th, from 4-5 in Canton. It is cold, so wear warm clothes! 

At our November vigil, we were joined by candidate for U.S. Congress, Tedra Cobb.  Tedra has since garnered national attention to her campaign and raised over 1 million dollars. Tedra also spoke on the SLU campus on November 13th to more than 50 students about the Climate Crisis. 

Youth Climate Summit

Students at the October Vigil

SLU Students Host Conversation after Oct. 4th Climate Vigil

*to learn about the history of the Monthly Climate Action Vigil, started by Little River Community School high school student Alex Calk with support from North Country 350 Alliance, read Alex’s October 3rd, 2019 ‘In the Schools’ blog post.

 

SLU students hold signs protesting climate change.
Protesters hold signs and flags at the climate vigil in Canton.

The Story Behind the Monthly Climate Action Vigil in Canton

Once a month, a group of people stand on the corner of the local park, a handmade sign reading “Monthly Climate Action Vigil, Join Us!” erected behind them. People as young as 12 and as old as 86 hold signs or flags protesting the climate crisis. Some give speeches, some lead chants. Others interact with people walking down the street, encouraging them to get involved in climate action. But our group has a singular vision: we are protesting the continuation of the climate crisis. 

Protesters waved flags at the September Monthly Climate Action Vigil.

Registration Open! Teacher Workshop, July 30-31

This workshop has passed. To learn about upcoming workshops or to inquire about working with Nature Up North as an educator, please contact us at info@natureupnorth.org. Visit www.natureupnorth.org/educator-resources to explore our teacher resources.

 

Are you a St. Lawrence County teacher interested in incorporating more nature-based learning into your lessons? Do you want to increase opportunities for integrating outdoor learning with STEM content?

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Nature Up North visits St. Lawrence - Lewis BOCES Tech Camp!

The Nature Up North team was delighted to be able to present at the annual Tech Camp presented by the Model Schools team.

Title slide from presentation

Teachers Get Outside the Classroom

A small crowd assembles with various instruments, test sets and other equipment in preparation for the lab assignment. Carefully they organize ampules, sample nets and data sheets. These citizen scientists are sampling the waters for invertebrate animals, dissolved oxygen levels, pH (acidity) and phosphorus and nitrogen levels. This is not an indoor lab, but right on the Grasse River in Canton. This is not your ordinary teacher training session but a new experience.

Teachers sample for macroinvertebrates in the Grasse River.
A teacher shows the result from a water sampling kit testing dissolved oxygen.

Trees and Streams: Citizen Science in the Schools

A student shouts— “This one! This one’s ours!” and runs back for a measuring tape. She and her partner have found their assigned maple tree on the school lawn, and are about to record seasonal observations for the first of many weeks this fall. The student, a 7th grader at Norwood-Norfolk Middle School, is participating in Monitor My Maple - one of several citizen science initiatives at Nature Up North.

7th graders at Norwood-Norfolk Central School walk out of the woods after a lesson on nature observation with Nature Up North this September